A Fork in the Road
by FoxwolfJackson
Summary: This story will feature both Konohomaru and Naruto as the main characters. Watch as Konohomaru struggles to be like his idol, Naruto. However, as the events unfold, Konohomaru has to make a tough choice. Will he follow his idol or follow his dreams?
1. I wanna be just like him

Author's Notes: Welcome, everyone. For those of you wondering why I'm starting another fic, I just wanted to have a fic in another style from Spellbinding Radiance. As much as I love writing first person, I've been having a major writer's block lately. As a result, I'm trying to get my creativity going through another fic, which would be this one.

Don't worry. Spellbinding Radiance will be updated regularly as normal… but I'm going to make sure this fic doesn't die either.

For those of you wondering whether there will be pairings in the fic, I have picked the pairings already. I have decided on a creative, different approach than most fics I've seen. Originally, I planned on NaruHina, but upon further thought, I figured there's enough out there. What are the pairings, you ask? I really don't have it settled yet.

Also, this will be a dual-main character fic. Something I haven't really seen before (although I haven't read too many fics). The story will focus on Konohomaru at first, and as the fic goes on, it will feature both Konohomaru and Naruto. The fic takes place about a week after Naruto leaves the village to train with Jiraiya. The only change that I've made (that I know of) is that I bumped up Konohomaru's age to be roughly a year and a half younger than Naruto. When Naruto leaves the village, he's 13 (roughly a year after his academy graduation), and Konohomaru is 11, turning 12.

Everything after Naruto leaves will be changed. I didn't want a simple re-telling of the story. Rather, I wanted to take more creative license and see what I could do by myself. Without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter 1:

I wanna be just like him.

It has been one week since a certain blonde haired, blue eyed, orange clad ninja left the village hidden in the leaves. It was a rather dull time for the buxom blonde, who was more commonly known to the villagers as Tsunade. Being the Fifth Hokage has gotten rather boring without the hyperactive ninja being around to add some spice to the day. Truth be told, the whole village has been somewhat boring ever since he left.

In the academy, Iruka Umino was giving the final exam to his students in the class. Should they pass, they will get the chance to become a Genin under a Jounin teacher and train until they have the opportunity to take the Chuunin exam.

"Konohomaru, it is your turn," Iruka said as he went down the list. The list of people taking the exam was put in a random order. This was so that people who were at the beginning or end of the alphabet did not get picked on first or last.

A brown-haired boy wearing goggles on his forehead, a blue scarf, a yellow shirt, and tan shorts walked forward. The boy, known as Konohomaru, stood in front of Iruka. The academy students had to do a transformation technique for their final exam. Iruka looked up from his clipboard and said, "Okay."

"Transform!" Konohomaru said after forming the hand-seal. A puff of smoke covered Konohomaru. After the smoke started to clear, another puff of smoke seemed to appear out of nowhere. When the two smoke clouds finally disappeared, an exact copy of Iruka was standing where Konohomaru once was, including the clipboard.

"Very good, Konohomaru. You pass with full marks," Iruka said. The Iruka standing in Konohomaru's spot looked around slightly confused. The confusion did not last long though.

"Konohomaru!" the Iruka standing in Konohomaru's spot said.

"Yes, that is your name," Iruka said.

"No, you are Konohomaru, and I am your teacher. Undo your transformation immediately!" the transformed Iruka said.

"Konohomaru. Keep this up, and I'm afraid, I'm going to have to report your mental condition to Lady Tsunade!" Iruka said.

"Konohomaru, keep this up and I'll fail you," the transformed Iruka said. Iruka looked shocked for a second. A few seconds later, almost the whole class gasped in surprise, as the Iruka everyone thought was real was actually Konohomaru.

"Konohomaru, very clever using the substitution technique and fooling almost all of your classmates," Iruka said with a cough. Apparently, he seemed to be a bit embarrassed at the fact that Konohomaru did such a thing.

"_At least he didn't do the Sexy Technique, like Naruto did,_" Iruka thought to himself with a small sigh.

"Next, Hanabi Hyuuga," Iruka called out.

* * *

"It seems everyone in our class passed the exam, Konohomaru," a red-haired female ninja wearing goggles on her forehead said in an excited fashion.

"Of course, Moegi! We trained hard to pass that exam. I would bet that our big bro Naruto would be proud of us," Konohomaru replied to the girl.

"Hey, Udon," Konohomaru said to the other boy. He had brown hair in a bowl cut and he, too, was wearing goggles. His nose seemed to be running, and he pulled out a tissue from his pocket to clear his nose.

"Yes, Konohomaru?" Udon said in a stuffy, yet polite tone.

"Wanna go to… The Stand?" Konohomaru asked in a dramatic tone.

"I guess we could," Udon replied.

"Oh, come on! It will help wake you up!" Konohomaru said.

"Okay…" Udon said in a somewhat tired tone. The three traveled down a path well worn by someone who the three held dear. They soon arrived at their destination.

… Ichiraku's Ramen.

The three walked into the stand, greeted by a brown haired girl in a white apron. Under the apron was a dark blue skirt that went down to her knees, and a dark red t-shirt. She had brown hair that was unbounded and left to flow freely down past her shoulders. Her t-shirt managed to accentuate her body, including her moderately sized bust. Konohomaru smiled and said, "Hey there, Ayame!"

"Oh, it's Konohomaru, Moegi, and Udon!" the girl said in a cheerful tone with a smile.

"We just finished our exam, and we passed!" Konohomaru stated in a proud tone, puffing out his chest slightly.

"That's really good! I assume you're here for the usual?" Ayame asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Where is your father?" Konohomaru asked.

"He's not feeling well today, so I'm running the stand myself," Ayame replied.

"That must be hard work," Moegi said.

"I've had experience," Ayame replied.

"But you're only fourteen!" Konohomaru said in a slightly unbelieving tone.

"I'm older and more responsible than you," Ayame replied to Konohomaru, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"I'll be twelve in a month!" Konohomaru exclaimed in reply.

"That's still about two and a half years older," Ayame said in the same playful tone.

"Naruto is thirteen, and he could not run this stand alone," Konohomaru countered. A hint of something crossed Ayame's face for a few seconds. It seems a bit like she was reminiscing for a few seconds.

"Ah, Naruto. He's a special case, though," Ayame replied.

"… you can say that again," Moegi said.

"So, the usual?" Ayame asked.

"Yes!" the three new ninja said.

As Ayame made herself busy and making the ramen for the three, Udon pulled out a book from his pocket and began reading.

"What are you reading, Udon?" Konohomaru asked.

"Oh, simple equations that I recently learned. I want to memorize them," Udon replied.

"Equations? For… algebra?" Konohomaru asked. It was common knowledge among the academy students that Konohomaru really excelled only at his ninja skills. Everything else, he barely scraped by on.

"No. They're for Calculus," Udon replied.

"Equations… for… calculus?" Ayame asked as she slowly turned around and gave Udon a look of disbelief.

"Yes. See here, I took down some equations for derivatives of graphs. The derivative of the sine of x is cosine of x, and the derivative of secant of x is secant of x times the tangent of x, and—"

"Udon, you're hurting my head!" Moegi said as she held her head in her head.

"Oh… okay," Udon replied.

"Here you three go. Pork ramen for Konohomaru, Pork Ramen for Moegi, and Miso Ramen for Udon," Ayame announced.

"Today has another reason for me to celebrate though, guys!" Konohomaru announced. Before he was able to announce anything, a girl walked into the stand. She had somewhat short dark-blue hair and was wearing a loose, gray jacket. Her dark-blue pants matched the color of her hair.

"C-could I have a bowl of r-ramen?" the girl stuttered out in a soft, high voice.

"Hey, it's Hinata!" Konohomaru said. The girl turned to Konohomaru.

"H-hi, Kono," Hinata said in that same soft, high-pitched voice.

"What's up?" Konohomaru said over the loud eating sounds of his two classmates.

"I'm… here to h-have some ramen," Hinata replied to Konohomaru.

"What'll it be?" Ayame asked.

"Um, um… w-what… w-what…" Hinata stuttered, unable to say it.

"What is it?" Ayame asked.

"Wh-what kind of—" Hinata began.

"Here, Hinata. Have some pork ramen. It's Naruto's favorite," Konohomaru said with a smile.

"N-N-N-Naruto's f-f-favorite?" Hinata said as she turned a little red.

"Yeah, it is," Konohomaru replied with a smile and a thumbs up.

"Th-then, I'll have s-s-some," Hinata replied.

"Coming right up!" Ayame said in a cheerful tone.

"S-so, Kono… what was y-your announcement going t-to be?" Hinata asked.

"Oh! I learned how to do the Shadow Clones," Konohomaru stated.

"What? Already?" Moegi asked Konohomaru.

"Yeah!" Konohomaru answered.

"How many?" Udon asked.

"I can make four," Konohomaru replied.

"That's awesome! Will you teach us?" Moegi asked.

"I w-would like to learn as well," Hinata added.

"Well… okay!" Konohomaru said while rubbing the back of his head.

"When?" Udon asked.

"When we get a few missions under our belt," Konohomaru replied.

"So, who's our teacher?" Udon asked as he finished his bowl of Ramen. Ayame walked over to Hinata and gave her the bowl that she ordered.

"We'll find out later when we go back to the school," Konohomaru replied.

"Well, there's Kakashi!" Udon remarked with a voice that had more energy than usual.

"I don't think he's taking anyone right now. Also, I hope I don't get stuck with Ebisu again. Anyone but him," Konohomaru said aloud.

"I am sure y-you will h-have someone g-good," Hinata said.

"I hope so," Konohomaru said.

The three, after finishing their bowls, left the stand to head back to the school. They would be meeting who would be their Jounin teacher in an hour. Konohomaru reasoned to the others it was better to be early to give a good first impression. With nothing else to do that would take less than an hour, the others agreed and together they slowly traveled to the academy. Arriving fifteen minutes early, they sat in their seats.

Konohomaru looked at Udon, who had just pulled out the notepad from his pocket.

"Still doing that Carcupus stuff?" Konohomaru asked.

"It's Calculus… and yes, I am," Udon replied.

"What exactly is the point of it?" Konohomaru asked again.

"Well, it's fun to learn new things and to constantly be pushing your boundary of knowledge," Udon replied.

"… okay," Konohomaru replied. "You can do that. I'll be working on perfecting my techniques."

"Aren't you guys here a bit early?" Iruka said as he walked in.

"We thought it would better to be early than to be late," Konohomaru said.

"That's because Konohomaru doesn't know the meaning of 'on-time,'" Moegi added jokingly.

"That's not true!" Konohomaru replied quickly.

"Yeah, you're right. Doesn't mean you actually practice it though," Moegi replied.

"We're late because you have to do your makeup!" Konohomaru countered.

"Okay, you three. That's enough!" Iruka said.

"Sorry…" the three replied.

The three sat in the room somewhat silently, with only Udon reading his notebook and both Konohomaru and Moegi giving each other hard looks. Eventually, the other students of the class walked into the room.

"Okay, class. Today is the day we put you all into teams…" Iruka began. Konohomaru started to daydream throughout the sorting process. In his mind, he was hoping he could get Kakashi as his teacher.

It was common knowledge to most of the students that Konohomaru idolized Naruto. Konohomaru even started wearing goggles and started emulating the actions that Naruto took, much to the annoyance of Tsunade. In fact, the only person who idolized someone as much as Konohomaru was his teammate, Udon.

Udon idolized Sasuke constantly, even after Sasuke left the village. When asked why, he would always mention about how Sasuke was always the best in his class, and yet would always try his best to train even harder for the next challenge.

… however, some did see that as a misinterpretation on Udon's part.

Konohomaru snapped out of his reverie at trying to have Kakashi as his teacher again.

"Team 5. Hanabi Hyuuga, Katsu Hiroto, and Kasumi Akiko. You are with Kakashi Hatake."

"Whaaaaat?" Konohomaru and Udon said aloud, both of them snapping out of their lack of attention. Iruka ignored the reaction from the two and he moved on through the list.

"_That sucks!_" Konohomaru thought.

"Team 6. Konohomaru Sarutobi, Moegi Yumi, and Udon Ryoosamu," Iruka started.

"Yeah! We're together!" Konohomaru exclaimed aloud.

"You are with Anko Mitarashi," Iruka finished. All three of the Genin were silent and spaced out as soon as Iruka announced their teacher. They were in a state of semi-shock. Konohomaru almost regretted saying that he'd have anyone over Ebisu.

"That is everyone. Wait here while your teachers arrive," Iruka instructed.

"What, we got Anko?" Kohonomaru said to his teammates.

"Who's Anko?" Moegi asked.

"I thought we told you to dress with a little more clothing?" Iruka's exasperated voice came from the hallway.

"This is decently clothed for me," a female voice replied. Before any more words were exchanged, the door to the room burst open. Standing there was a lady wearing a trench coat, a skirt, and a rather revealing top that was almost see-through.

"I am Anko Mitarashi! I will be the teacher for Team 6!" she exclaimed cheerfully and loudly, while using a ninja technique to allow colored clouds of smoke to explode behind her.

"Geez, aren't you energetic today," Iruka sighed as he walked into the room.

"No way! She can't be our teacher!" Konohomaru exclaimed.

"You say something, kid?" Anko replied back at Konohomaru.

"She's like Naruto!" Moegi stated in a vexed tone.

"… actually, that isn't that bad," Konohomaru said after a second.

"Make up your mind!" Moegi said in an annoyed tone.

"Those two kvetchs…" Udon sighed.

"Quit your grumbling and nagging!" Iruka exclaimed.

"_He's JUST like Naruto,_" Iruka thought in annoyance.

"I expect to see you three at Ichiraku's Ramen in fifteen minutes," Anko said to the three. "Dismissed."

"Ramen!" Konohomaru exclaimed while running out of the room. Udon and Moegi could only look at each other in a perplexed and mystified manner at the sudden attitude change.

Five minutes later, Moegi and Udon joined Konohomaru at Ichiraku's ramen stand for a "quick" bowl of ramen. They sat there for twenty minutes, constantly checking their watches and waiting for Anko to show up.

"Oh, you're here early!" Anko said as she walked into the ramen stand.

"You're ten minutes late!" Konohomaru stated.

"Well, I had a small incident at the dango stand nearby," Anko commented, causing all three of the genin to look at each other incredulously. A small incident?

"So… I guess we should start by introducing ourselves. Tell me your name, your likes and dislikes, your hobbies, and your goals," Anko said. She looked Konohomaru and said, "Starting with you."

"I'm Konohomaru. I like ramen, milk, training, and constantly pushing my limits. I dislike people who don't try their hardest, people who think things should just be handed to them, and those perverted books Kakashi is always reading. My hobbies are training, learning new techniques, and perfecting the techniques I know. My goal is to be the Seventh Hokage!" Konohomaru said with determination.

"Seventh? Why not sixth?" Anko asked.

"Because that title belongs to Naruto and only Naruto," Konohomaru said in a determined tone with a smile.

"I see. How about you?" Anko said as she looked to Moegi.

"I'm Moegi! I like exercising, riding a bike, going on walks around town, learning medical techniques, and learning hand to hand combat. I dislike lazy people. My hobbies are Pilates, yoga, aerobic exercises, anaerobic exercises, and playing sports. My goal is to become a powerful medic ninja, like Lady Tsunade," Moegi said in a cheerful tone.

"Very good. How about you?" Anko asked as she looked at Udon.

"My name is Udon. I enjoy reading books, doing research, and learning new material. I really do not have any dislikes. My current hobbies include learning calculus and physics and be able to find practical ways of applying them to the ninja lifestyle. My goal is to become a researcher who can discover many varieties of new techniques and to uncover methods of improving the performance and cut chakra-consumption of current techniques," Udon said in a tired tone. He coughed for a second before sniffling.

"Well, you three seem like a dynamic group and have strengths and weaknesses that complement each other. I look forward to working with you three. Meet me tomorrow at the training field at six in the morning… and don't be late," Anko said with a smile.

"A teacher like Naruto… I'm going to learn from her and be just like him," Konohomaru said enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit! Now, which one of you is paying?" Ayame said as she held out the bill.

* * *

Author's note: Yeah, I made up Moegi and Udon's last names. I also made up Hanabi's teammates. I picked names that seemed most appropriate for the characters. Katsu means Victory, Hiroto means Esteem or Large, Katsumi means Mist, Akiko means bright or sparkle, Yumi means Archery Bow, and Ryoosamu is a combination of Ryo (which means Cool or Refreshing) and Osamu (which means Discipline or Study).

I didn't really particularly want Anko as their teacher, but I really didn't feel like making up any more OC characters than I had to. Out of the remaining Jounin, Anko seemed to be the best. I also strongly dislike Ebisu as a character and as a teacher. As a character, he did not seem to be that great of a teacher, but that's just how I saw him.

* * *

Preview of the next chapter:

"_You're kidding me, right?" Konohomaru said to Anko in an incredulous tone._

"_On the contrary, I'm quite serious," Anko replied._

"_Then you have to be insane!" Konohomaru exclaimed._

"_I'm quite sane, or so I'd like to believe," Anko replied._

"_You… want us in the next Chuunin exams? What could we possibly do? We're not good enough!" Konohomaru exclaimed._

"_Then train, little one. Train hard. Train long. Otherwise… you just may not live long enough to enjoy the… finer points of life," Anko said, ending in an almost suggestive tone._


	2. Serpents and Shuriken

Chapter 2

Serpents and Shuriken

Konohamaru woke up early in the morning. Anko said to be there at six in the morning, and Konohamaru did not plan on being late to the meeting. He arrived at training field six at five-thirty in the morning. Every Jounin had their own training field for either their personal training purposes or training their team. He arrived there to hear someone else already there. Curious, he looked over to see Hinata perfecting a couple techniques on a log with a target attached to it.

Her movements, while delicate and graceful, were often fearfully precise with deadly accuracy. Her attacks, while somewhat predictable at times, were executed with such speed as to be almost undodgable unless the attack was predicted.

As Konohamaru watched the training, he spotted Moegi come onto the field and spot Hinata as well. He watched Moegi casually start to walk over to where Hinata was training.

"Hey Hinata," Moegi said in a slightly tired tone.

"G-good morning, Moegi," Hinata replied in her usual shy tone.

"You don't have to be nervous! It's just us," Moegi said.

"B-but Konohamaru has been sitting b-back in the b-bushes over there for the past fifteen minutes w-watching me train," Hinata said as she motioned to where Konohamaru was covertly observing, half-concealed in the bushes.

"You can come out now, Konohamaru!" Moegi called over. Realizing he had been found, he stood up, walked over, and smiled at the two.

"G-good morning, K-K-Konohamaru!" Hinata said.

"Good morning, Hinata!" Konohamaru replied.

"… you are way too energetic for the time of the day," Moegi said in an irritated voice to Konohamaru.

"But I'm still a young kid! I should enjoy my youth," Konohamaru said. Immediately the three realized what he said and dived for cover.

"THE EXPLOSION OF YOUTH WAITS FOR NO ONE!"

A man clad in green spandex and yellow leg guards popped out of nowhere onto the field. A boy in the same hideous green outfit accompanied him. The three, well hidden, were lucky to have dived just in time for safety as the duo arrived. Both sported horrible looking bowl cuts and great, bushy, fuzzy eyebrows that looked like caterpillars.

"WHERE ARE THE YOUTHFUL ONES?" the younger shouted energetically at the top of his voice, causing the three that were hiding to cringe at the volume.

"THEY ARE NOT HERE, LEE!" the older one shouted back, equal in volume and intensity.

"WHAT SHALL WE DO?" the one named Lee shouted.

"I, GUY, SAY WE RUN FIVE-HUNDRED LAPS AROUND KONOHA!" the one who proclaimed himself as Guy exclaimed.

"EXCELLENT IDEA!" Lee shouted back. Soon, the two dashed off at unbelievable speeds from the field. The three others managed to remove themselves from their hiding places and looked at each other.

"That was close," Konohamaru said while wiping his brow.

"Konohamaru, don't ever say the y-word again," Moegi said.

"T-that was… v-v-v-v-very i-i-i-interesting," Hinata said.

"What y-word? Yout—" Konohamaru began.

"N-no!" Hinata exclaimed as she jumped behind Konohamaru with unbelievable speed and covered his mouth. "D-d-don't s-s-say it!"

An awkward silence came over the group for a few seconds. Suddenly, Konohamaru started struggling against Hinata's grasp. He finally broke away with his cheeks flushed red and his breathing deep and labored.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Konohamaru asked in a weird tone.

"I-I am s-so s-sorry," Hinata replied. For some weird reason, Hinata started to blush a bit too.

"What's wrong, Hinata? Why are you blushing?" Moegi asked.

"I… I was just r-r-reminded of N-Naruto," Hinata replied softer than usual.

"Oh," Konohamaru replied. He looked at Moegi who looked back at him. It was common knowledge to all but Naruto himself that Hinata really had a huge crush on him. Konohamaru could only begin to imagine what it must be like for the girl to have her idol so far away on a training trip.

"You guys are here early."

Konohamaru, Moegi, and Hinata all looked to the voice to see none other than the trench coat-clad Jounin sitting in a tree and watching the three.

"You three really look cute together as a group," Anko commented.

"What does that mean?" Konohamaru asked.

"Take it how you think I meant it," Anko replied.

"I don't know how to take it!" Konohamaru replied in annoyance.

"… you're as innocent as Naruto was, you know?" Anko remarked.

"Is that bad?"

"Take it how you think. It's your own quality, not mine."

"Stop being so vague, lady!"

"I'm not just any lady. I'm your teacher in the art of being a ninja. Of course, I could teach you so... much… more," Anko said, deliberately slowing down the end of the sentence with a hint of something suggestive in her tone. At this, Hinata blushed bright red and nearly fainted.

"Lady, are you really going to be our teacher?" Konohamaru asked.

"Isn't that what your old teacher, Iruka, said?" Anko asked.

"… yes," Konohamaru replied.

"Then I'm your teacher," Anko replied. She looked over at an area behind the three and said, "There's the other one. Right on time. Perfect. Now we can begin."

"I-I-I shall be going now," Hinata said shyly.

"Bye Hinata!" Konohamaru said to her. At this, Hinata, for some reason, blushed even deeper than she already was from Anko's comment. Konohamaru could only stare at her in confusion, who was growing redder and redder from Konohamaru's stare, causing him to stare even harder and in an even more confused tone.

"I found a paper with Sasuke Uchiha's handwriting!" Udon exclaimed as he came to the field. Sasuke was one of the only topics that could overcome Udon's perpetual fatigue.

"What does it say?" Konohamaru asked.

"I… hate… the… log…" Udon read aloud.

"Well, that doesn't say much," Konohamaru said.

"I wonder what it means," Moegi asked. Before much more was said, Hinata walked away, waving to the group. Anko could only smile slightly as Hinata faded from view as she walked away. Anko jumped off the tree to the ground near the three.

"What's so funny?" Konohamaru asked Anko.

"What is funny?" Anko asked him back.

"You're smiling. Why? What devious things are you planning?" Konohamaru asked.

"I'm not planning anything. I simply observed something that you three most likely overlooked. You really are more like Naruto than people give you credit for, my cute little Kono," Anko said in a playful tone to Konohamaru.

"What do you mean?" Konohamaru asked, trying to ignore the pet name that Anko gave him.

"If you open your eyes up, you'll find out," Anko replied with a smirk.

"So, what are we doing here," Konohamaru asked.

"I want to evaluate each of your abilities and skills. Each of you will attack me individually at first until I say stop. When I have evaluated all three of you, I want all of you to come after me as a team. Your objective is to retrieve this book from me," Anko said. She held out a book that had a red symbol on the back cover. Konohamaru only saw the word "Make-Out" on the front cover to know what the little orange book was.

"You have one of the books Kakashi reads!" Konohamaru said.

"I know how much you hate it, so here's a little incentive. This is a special book that was just released. Kakashi had a very hard time finding a copy of this book. In fact, right now, he owns the only copy of the book that's in Konoha. Well, he did," Anko said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Anko said.

"You hate these books. I swiped this from Kakashi. Get it from me and you can have it to do whatever you want. Read it if you want… but you can always destroy it," Anko said with a devious smile.

"You know, lady, I'm beginning to like you!" Konohamaru said as he smiled at Anko.

"Not as much as I like you, my cute little Kono," Anko said with a lilting, playful tone. "Ready?"

"When you are," Konohamaru replied in a determined tone.

"Then, let's see if you can claim Kakashi's book," Anko said with a smile.

At that, Konohamaru ran toward Anko with a kunai out. As he got close, he threw it and pulled out another one. Anko easily dodged the thrown kunai by lightly jumping to the side. Konohamaru quickly tried to keep up by changing the direction of his charge and swung his kunai at her. She caught his arm by the wrist with her left hand, effectively stopping the swing. With her right hand, she grabbed the end of the kunai and yanked it out of his hand. She threw the kunai at him.

"Watch out!" Moegi called out. She flinched as the kunai hit him on the shoulder. Her despair faded as Konohamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke and replaced with a log. He appeared behind Anko and tried to snatch the book from her hand. However, his plan was thwarted by a snake popping out of the ground and grabbing his wrist.

"You have something against my wrists?" Konohamaru asked in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, nothing at all," Anko said in the most innocent voice she could muster. Konohamaru quickly tugged himself free and put his hands together to form a seal.

"Clone technique!" Konohamaru called out. Immediately, nine clones of himself puffed into existence. Unable to distinguish the real one out of the clones at the moment, Anko shifted into a slightly defensive position.

"_Clever, but I'm sure the real one will try to go behind me while the rest distract me in front,_" Anko thought to herself. The hand holding the book was put behind her back as if to tempt Konohamaru to go behind her to get it. Sure enough, all ten of the clones charged her at once while one of them sneakily broke off the attack to get her from behind.

"Not going to happen!" Anko said in a forceful tone as she did an about-face and threw a kunai at the Konohamaru behind her with her free hand. She gasped in surprise as the kunai went through it. It was a clone! Before she was able to regain her composure, she felt the book being ripped from her hand. She quickly wheeled around, but apparently Konohamaru had already hidden the book.

"Better hope you can keep that book, because here I come," Anko said. The clones only grinned widely at her while sticking out their tongues. Anko charged at all of them at once, throwing kunai left and right. The kunai pierced each and every one of them, but they were all clones that faded from view.

"Okay, okay, I give up," Anko said in a very annoyed tone. "I shouldn't have underestimated you. Iruka was right. You are one clever brat."

One of the rocks nearby puffed in a cloud of smoke revealing Konohamaru and the book.

"Hey, hey… teacher! Can I do whatever I want to this book now?" Konohamaru asked.

"Not yet! I have to evaluate these other two first," Anko replied.

"You can't trick me. Use something else. I'm sure if I give it to you, you won't give it back to me unless I sneak it out of you again," Konohamaru said with a slight sign of a smug smirk on his face.

"Clever. Very clever. Fine, you can keep it. I have something else for the other two anyway," Anko replied.

"Very good," Konohamaru stated.

"Don't think you're that great yet, kid. I just simply underestimated how well you would do," Anko stated.

"Isn't it the job of a ninja to never underestimate your opponent if you want to stay alive?" Konohamaru said in a taunting voice to Anko.

"It's also the job of any normal person to not provoke someone who can kill you unless you have a good reason," Anko countered.

"Touché," Konohamaru replied.

"So, what are you going to do with that book?" Anko asked.

"Easy," Konohamaru replied. He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He tossed the book high into the air.

"Fire style! Fireball technique!" Konohamaru called out. He let out a somewhat large fireball at the book, although not quite as large as the technique was meant to performed. The fireball hit the book, incinerating it to ashes.

"That wasn't too shabby of a fireball technique."

Konohamaru quickly turned around fearing he knew who that voice was. Sure enough, Kakashi was standing at the end of the clearing. Anko could only smirk at Konohamaru, causing him to give her a dirty look. She let him get the book on purpose so he could destroy it around Kakashi.

"So, what brings you around here?" Anko sweetly asked Kakashi.

"One of my possessions seems to be missing, and I have a feeling you know something about it," Kakashi merely replied to Anko.

"What possession of yours do you think I stole this time?" Anko asked.

"A new book of mine," Kakashi merely replied. "I saw a book being tossed into the air a few seconds ago that looked strangely like it. A few seconds later, a fireball from Konohamaru here engulfed it in flames."

"Yeah, that was the book," Anko replied.

"So, Konohamaru, what do you have to say?" Kakashi asked. His face was without any kind of feeling for the moment. Somehow, this emotionless, set-in-stone expression scared Konohamaru even more than an angry Kakashi. At the last second, he had a brilliant idea.

"I followed my teacher's orders," Konohamaru replied.

"What?" was the surprised response from Anko and Kakashi.

"Anko had the book. As part of the training, she told me that I had to grab the book from her if I wanted to get better. The condition was that if I grabbed the book from her, I had to follow her orders about it. As a student, I felt it was necessary to never doubt your teacher's orders," Konohamaru explained. Slyly he tried to bend the truth to make it sound as if it was Anko's fault rather than his. After all, he didn't lie in his explanation to Kakashi.

"Mmm, Anko, is he lying?" Kakashi asked her.

"What? He… he isn't lying," Anko stuttered out, unable to believe how smoothly Konohamaru was able to bend the truth like that. He gave her a smug smile.

"So, what was the order she gave you, Konohamaru?" Kakashi asked him. At that second, Konohamaru felt himself facing a deadly decision. Either he could lie or tell the truth. Neither was very appealing.

"She told me to do whatever I wanted with it," Konohamaru sighed in response.

"So, in other words, she manipulated your hate for the books to get you to do her dirty job. Isn't the job of the ninja to look underneath the underneath?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, sir," Konohamaru solemnly answered.

"Well, at least you were honest," Kakashi replied. "Tell you what. How about I train the other two for the rest of the day?"

"Really?" Anko asked in surprise.

"Yes, really," Kakashi replied.

"I'd love to stay and watch, but I think I'm going to have to eat. Getting manipulated by Konohamaru has worked up an appetite," Anko said in a jubilated tone.

"Okay, you two, here is your training. Grab this slip from me, and if you grab it, you can do whatever you want with it. In fact, you can get someone back for using Konohamaru," Kakashi said, holding out a piece of paper. Udon could've swore that Kakashi was smiling under that mask.

"Is that… my… one week all-you-can-eat pass to the dango restaurant?" Anko asked carefully

"I assume you can't go anywhere without this?" Kakashi asked as he held out a slip for her to see.

"Got it!" Moegi called out as she jumped at Kakashi and snatched it out of his hand.

"No!" Anko called out.

"This is for Konohamaru!" Moegi called out.

"You wouldn't…" Anko said.

"Flower Illusion: Storm of Rose Thorns!" Moegi called out. Anko was immediately caught in an illusion technique, an illusion that roses with thorns on their stems were pelting at her at high speed. Being a simple illusion cast by a Genin, Anko quickly dispelled the technique. It was too late as it appeared that the slip was ripped into pieces in Moegi's hands.

"No! How could you?" Anko called out in despair. For added effect, Moegi threw the pieces into the air, where the scattered like flower petals to the ground.

"Now we're even," Kakashi stated.

"Yes, you two are," Konohamaru said with a smile.

"What are you smiling about?" Anko asked venomously. Konohamaru waved his hand and grabbed the kunai he was holding. He tossed it into the air and it transformed back into the book. Hungrily, Kakashi jumped to it and snatched it out of the air.

"What about my ticket!" Anko said even more venomously as Kakashi was hugging his book.

"Here we go," Moegi said as she waved her hand. The pieces of the ticket transformed into flower petals and Moegi pulled the ticket from her pocket.

"Isn't a ninja supposed to read underneath the underneath and not fall for simple tricks?" Konohamaru said with a smile. "Good job, Moegi."

"Konohamaru, that was a very nasty trick to do," Kakashi said.

"Yes, you should not do things like that, Moegi," Anko said.

"But if they fooled you, and you know them well, wouldn't that make them even more skilled at manipulating enemies on infiltration missions?" Udon said. He had kept silent during the whole matter. Although he didn't know what was going on, he figured neither Moegi nor Konohamaru had the spite in them or the drive in them to actually destroy something precious to Kakashi or Anko.

"I think Naruto would be very proud of you three," Kakashi said simply. He pulled out what seemed like a packet from his pocket. A very familiar looking packet to the three genin.

"Look what I just happened to find dropping of its own accord out of Konohamaru's pocket?" Kakashi asked. Anko smiled in an almost sadistic manner at the slips in Kakashi's hand.

"No! That's our free ramen for Ichiraku's!" Konohamaru shouted out in desperation.

"You shouldn't pull tricks like that if you can't take the consequences," Anko said. Quick as a flash she pulled out a kunai and sliced it in half. The three stood there in stunned silence as Kakashi took the two pieces of the packet threw it into the air. After forming hand seals, he held out a hand and shot a few small thunderbolts at the slips, causing them all to catch on fire.

"No!" Moegi shouted out in sadness.

"So, what lesson have you learned?" Kakashi asked.

"That we should watch our pockets even closer so you can't get us back the next time we prank you guys," Konohamaru suggested.

"No," Kakashi said.

"Then what is it?" Udon asked.

"That even we teachers can have a sense of humor," Kakashi said. Anko smiled and pulled the packet of ramen tickets from her pocket.

"That… wasn't funny," Moegi said.

Author's Note: I would like to extend thanks to one of my readers who corrected me when I misspelled Konohamaru's name. I also apologize for the late update. I didn't have much inspiration to work on this fic lately. Now that everything has settled back down at home, I can work on my fics in peace… or at least, as much peace as I can get considering I have a research paper due and I haven't started yet.

If any of you are wondering what's with the random writing from Sasuke about hating logs, it's a tribute to Naruto Abridged by Vegeta3986 and Masako X. It's a brilliant parody of Naruto that I found some time ago. I think they stopped making the series ever since YouTube banned them, which is a pity, because I think the whole series is brilliant. If any of you find the time, go check out "Naruto Abridged" on YouTube, if you can find any that aren't deleted.

Also, yeah, I know it's a crappy way to end the chapter, but I'm almost running out of time before class starts.


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